Flight 93 Passengers, Crew Honored In Sunday Ceremony

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) – A somber ceremony was held Sunday for family members, reading the names of loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice, fifteen years ago.

U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called the forty passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 national heroes, because they stopped a hijacked airplane from crashing, in Washington.

“We come together, as their champions, because their actions saved the lives of untold numbers of people,” Jewell said.

“I wake up, and I think about my brother, as if I saw him, the other day,” Gordon Felt said.

Felt’s brother, Edward, was a passenger on Flight 93, when it crashed into a field near Shanksville.

Felt has dealt with his grief, by immersing himself in the effort to design and build a Flight 93 National Memorial, near the crash site.

“Out in the middle of rural Pennsylvania, they’re coming, to hear the stories. I think this design, really hit it,” Felt said.

Ed Root’s cousin, Lorraine Bay, was also a passenger.

He thinks the memorial tells an accurate story of what happened, that fateful day.

“Anyone that goes into the visitor’s center, and goes through the museum part, I’ve heard nothing, but positive remarks,” he said.

Meanwhile, Doyle Paul, with the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department, was one of the first responders on the crash scene.

He talks to young people, about the experience.

“They need to remember the significance of this moment, and the real concern, that we have, for terrorists, all over our country,” Paul said.

The Flight 93 National Memorial is nearly complete, and has already drawn over 400,000 people. It will serve as an educational tool, making sure, future generals understand what happened there, on Sept. 11, 15-years ago.